SUMMARY OF THE JUDGMENT

I. Qualits (paras. 1 to 17)

II. Background to the dispute (paras. 18-25)

III. The non-appearance of the Respondent and Article 53 of the Statute (paras. 26-31)

The Court recalls that subsequent to the delivery of its Judgment of 26 November 1984 on the jurisdiction of
the Court and the admissibility of Nicaragua's Application, the United States decided not to take part in the
present phase of the proceedings. This however does not prevent the Court from giving a decision in the case,
but it has to do so while respecting the requirements of Article 53 of the Statute, which provides for the
situation when one of the parties does not appear. The Court's jurisdiction being established, it has in
accordance with Article 53 to satisfy itself that the claim of the party appearing is well founded in fact and law.
In this respect the Court recalls certain guiding principles brought out in a number of previous cases, one of
which excludes any possibility of a judgment automatically in favour of the party appearing. It also observes
that it is valuable for the Court to know the views of the non-appearing party, even if those views are expressed
in ways not provided for in the Rules of Court. The principle of the equality of the parties has to remain the
basic principle, and the Court has to ensure that the party which declines to appear should not be permitted to
profit from its absence.

IV. Justiciability of the dispute (paras. 32-35)

The Court considers it appropriate to deal with a preliminary question. It has been suggested that the questions
of the use of force and collective self-defence raised in the case fall outside the limits of the kind of questions
the Court can deal with, in other words that they are not justiciable. However, in the first place the Parties have
not argued that the present dispute is not a "legal dispute" within the meaning of Article 36, paragraph 2, of the
Statute, and secondly, the Court considers that the case does not necessarily involve it in evaluation of political
or military matters, which would be to overstep proper judicial bounds. Consequently, it is equipped to
determine these problems.

V. The significance of the multilateral treaty reservation (paras. 36-56)

The United States declaration of acceptance of the compulsory jurisdiction of the Court under Article 36,
paragraph 2, of the Statute contained a reservation excluding from operation of the declaration "disputes
arising under a multilateral treaty, unless (1) all parties to the treaty affected by the decision are also parties to
the case before the Court, or (2) the United States of America specially agrees to jurisdiction".

In its Judgment of 26 November 1984 the Court found, on the basis of Article 79, paragraph 7, of the Rules of
Court, that the objection to jurisdiction based on the reservation raised "a question concerning matters of
substance relating to the merits of the case" and that the objection did "not possess, in the circumstances of
the case, an exclusively preliminary character". Since it contained both preliminary aspects and other aspects
relating to the merits, it had to be dealt with at the stage of the merits.

In order to establish whether its jurisdiction were limited by the effect of the reservation in question, the Court
has to ascertain whether any third States, parties to the four multilateral treaties invoked by Nicaragua, and not
parties to the proceedings, would be "affected" by the Judgment. Of these treaties, the Court considers it
sufficient to examine the position under the United Nations Charter and the Charter of the Organization of
American States.

The Court examines the impact of the multilateral treaty reservation on Nicaragua's claim that the United
States has used force in breach of the two Charters. The Court examines in particular the case of El Salvador,
for whose benefit primarily the United States claims to be exercising the right of collective self-defence which it
regards as a justification of its own conduct towards Nicaragua, that right being endorsed by the United
Nations Charter (Art. 51) and the OAS Charter (Art. 21). The dispute is to this extent a dispute "arising under"
multilateral treaties to which the United States, Nicaragua and El Salvador are Parties. It appears clear to the
Court that El Salvador would be "affected" by the Court's decision on the lawfulness of resort by the United
States to collective self-defence.

As to Nicaragua's claim that the United States has intervened in its affairs contrary to the OAS Charter (Art. 18)
the Court observes that it is impossible to say that a ruling on the alleged breach of the Charter by the United
States would not "affect" El Salvador.

Having thus found that El Salvador would be "affected" by the decision that the Court would have to take on
the claims of Nicaragua based on violation of the two Charters by the United States, the Court concludes that
the jurisdiction conferred on it by the United States declaration does not permit it to entertain these claims. It
makes it clear that the effect of the reservation is confined to barring the applicability of these two multilateral
treaties as multilateral treaty law, and has no further impact on the sources of international law which Article 38
of the Statute requires the Court to apply, including customary international law.

VI. Establishment of the facts: evidence and methods employed by the Court (paras. 57-74)

The Court has had to determine the facts relevant to the dispute. The difficulty of its task derived from the
marked disagreement between the Parties, the non-appearance of the Respondent, the secrecy surrounding
certain conduct, and the fact that the conflict is continuing. On this last point, the Court takes the view, in
accordance with the general principles as to the judicial process, that the facts to be taken into account should
be those occurring up to the close of the oral proceedings on the merits of the case (end of September 1985).
With regard to the production of evidence, the Court indicates how the requirements of its Statute - in particular
Article 53 - and the Rules of Court have to be met in the case, on the basis that the Court has freedom in
estimating the value of the various elements of evidence. It has not seen fit to order an enquiry under Article 50
of the Statute. With regard to certain documentary material (press articles and various books), the Court has
treated these with caution. It regards than not as evidence capable of proving facts, but as material which can
nevertheless contribute to corroborating the existence of a fact and be taken into account to show whether
certain facts are matters of public knowledge. With regard to statements by representatives of
States, sometimes at the highest level, the Court takes the view that such statements are of particular
probative value when they acknowledge facts or conduct unfavourable to the State represented by the person
who made them. With regard to the evidence of witnesses presented by Nicaragua - five witnesses gave oral
evidence and another a written affidavit-one consequence of the absence of the Respondent was that the
evidence of the witnesses was not tested by cross-examination. The Court has not treated as evidence any
part of the testimony which was a mere expression of opinion as to the probability or otherwise of the existence
of a fact not directly known to the witness. With regard in particular to affidavits and sworn statements made by
members of a Government, the Court considers that it can certainly retain such parts of this evidence as may
be regarded as contrary to the interests or contentions of the State to which the witness has allegiance; for the
rest such evidence has to be treated with great reserve.

The Court is also aware of a publication of the United States State Department entitled "Revolution Beyond
Our Borders, Sandinista Intervention in Central America" which was not submitted to the Court in any form or
manner contemplated by the Statute and Rules of Court. The Court considers that, in view of the special
circumstances of this case, it may, within limits, make use of information in that publication.

VII. The facts imputable to the United States (paras. 75 to 125)

1. The Court examines the allegations of Nicaragua that the mining of Nicaraguan ports or waters was carried
out by United States military personnel or persons of the nationality of Latin American countries in the pay of
the United States. After examining the facts, the Court finds it established that, on a date in late 1983 or early
1984, the President of the United States authorized a United States Government agency to lay mines in
Nicaraguan ports, that in early 1984 mines were laid in or close to the ports of El Bluff, Corinto and Puerto
Sandino, either in Nicaraguan internal waters or in its territorial sea or both, by persons in the pay and acting
on the instructions of that agency, under the supervision and with the logistic support of United States agents;
that neither before the laying of the mines, nor subsequently, did the United States Government issue any
public and official warning to international shipping of the existence and location of the mines; and that
personal and material injury was caused by the explosion of the mines, which also created risks causing a rise
in marine insurance rates.

2. Nicaragua attributes to the direct action of United States personnel, or persons in its pay, operations
against oil installations, a naval base, etc.,listed in paragraph 81 of the Judgment. The Court finds all these
incidents, except three, to be established. Although it is not proved that any United States military personnel
took a direct part in the operations, United States agents participated in the planning, direction and support.
The imputability to the United States of these attacks appears therefore to the Court to be established.

3. Nicaragua complains of infringement of its air space by United States military aircraft. After indicating the
evidence available, the Court finds that the only violations of Nicaraguan air space imputable to the United
States on the basis of the evidence are high altitude reconnaissance flights and low altitude flights on 7 to 11
November 1984 causing "sonic booms".

With regard to joint military manoeuvres with Honduras carried out by the United States on Honduran territory
near the Honduras/Nicaragua frontier, the Court considers that they may be treated as public knowledge and
thus sufficiently established.

4. The Court then examines the genesis, development and activities of the contra force, and the role of the
United States in relation to it. According to Nicaragua, the United States "conceived, created and organized a
mercenary army, the contra force". On the basis of the available information, the Court is not able to satisfy
itself that the Respondent State "created" the contra force in Nicaragua, but holds it established that it largely
financed, trained, equipped, armed and organized the FDN, one element of the force.

It is claimed by Nicaragua that the United States Government devised the strategy and directed the tactics of
the contra force, and provided direct combat support for its military operations. In the light of the evidence and
material available to it, the Court is not satisfied that all the operations launched by the contra force, at every
stage of the conflict, reflected strategy and tactics solely devised by the United States. It therefore cannot
uphold the contention of Nicaragua on this point. The Court however finds it clear that a number of operations
were decided and planned, if not actually by the United States advisers, then at least in close collaboration with
them, and on the basis of the intelligence and logistic support which the United States was able to offer. It is
also established in the Court's view that the support of the United States for the activities of the contras took
various forms over the years, such as logistic support the supply of information on the location and movements
of the Sandinista troops, the use of sophisticated methods of communication, etc. The evidence does not
however warrant a finding that the United States gave direct combat support, if that is taken to mean direct
intervention by United States combat forces.

The Court has to determine whether the relationship of the contras to the United States Government was such
that it would be right to equate thecontras, for legal purposes, with an organ of the United States Government,
or as acting on behalf of that Government. The Court considers that the evidence available to it is insufficient to
demonstrate the total dependence of the contras on United States aid. A partial dependency, the exact extent
of which the Court cannot establish, may be inferred from the fact that the leaders were selected by the United
States, and from other factors such as the organisation, training and equipping of the force, planning of
operations, the choosing of targets and the operational support provided. There is no clear evidence that the
United States actually exercised such a degree of control as to justify treating the contras as acting on its
behalf.
5. Having reached the above conclusion, the Court takes the view that the contras remain responsible for their
acts, in particular the alleged violations by them of humanitarian law. For the United States to be legally
responsible, it would have to be proved that that State had effective control of the operations in the course of
which the alleged violations were committed.

6. Nicaragua has complained of certain measures of an economic nature taken against it by the Government of
the United States, which it regards as an indirect form of intervention in its internal affairs. Economic aid was
suspended in January 1981, and terminated in April 1981; the United States acted to oppose or block loans to
Nicaragua by international financial bodies; the sugar import quota from Nicaragua was reduced by 90 percent
in September 1983; and a total trade embargo on Nicaragua was declared by an executive order of the
President of the United States on 1 May 1985.

VIII. The conduct of Nicaragua (paras. 126-171)

The Court has to ascertain, so far as possible, whether the activities of the United States complained of,
claimed to have been the exercise of collective self-defence, may be justified by certain facts attributable to
Nicaragua.

1. The United States has contended that Nicaragua was actively supporting armed groups operating in certain
of the neighbouring countries,particularly in El Salvador, and specifically in the form of the supply of arms, an
accusation which Nicaragua has repudiated. The Court first examines the activity of Nicaragua with regard to
El Salvador.

Having examined various evidence, and taking account of a number of concordant indications, many of which
were provided by Nicaragua itself, from which the Court can reasonably infer the provision of a certain amount
of aid from Nicaraguan territory, the Court concludes that support for the armed opposition in El Salvador from
Nicaraguan territory was a fact up to the early months of 1981. Subsequently, evidence of military aid from or
through Nicaragua remains very weak, despite the deployment by the United States in the region of extensive
technical monitoring resources. The Court cannot however conclude that no transport of or traffic in arms
existed. It merely takes note that the allegations of arms traffic are not solidly established, and has not been
able to satisfy itself that any continuing flow on a significant scale took place after the early months of 1981.

Even supposing it were established that military aid was reaching the armed opposition in El Salvador from the
territory of Nicaragua, it skill remains to be proved that such aid is imputable to the authorities of Nicaragua,
which has not sought to conceal the possibility of weapons crossing its territory, but denies that this is the
result of any deliberate official policy on its part. Having regard to the circumstances characterizing this part of
Central America, the Court considers that it is scarcely possible for Nicaragua's responsibility for arms traffic on
its territory to be automatically assumed. The Court considers it more consistent with the probabilities to
recognize that an activity of that nature, if on a limited scale, may very well be pursued unknown to the
territorial government. In any event the evidence is insufficient to satisfy the Court that the Government of
Nicaragua was responsible for any flow of arms at either period.
2. The United States has also accused Nicaragua of being responsible for cross-border military attacks on
Honduras and Costa Rica. While not as fully informed on the question as it would wish to be, the Court
considers as established the fact that certain trans-border military incursions are imputable to the Government
of Nicaragua.

3. The Judgment recalls certain events which occurred at the time of the fall of President Somoza, since
reliance has been placed on them by the United States to contend that the present Government of Nicaragua
is in violation of certain alleged assurances given by its immediate predecessor. The Judgment refers in
particular to the "Plan to secure peace" sent on 12 July 1979 by the "Junta of the Government of National
Reconstruction" of Nicaragua to the Secretary-General of the OAS, mentioning, inter alia, its "firm intention to
establish full observance of human rights in our country" and "to call the first free elections our country has
known in this century". The United States considers that it has a special responsibility regarding the
implementation of these commitments.

IX. The applicable law: customary international law (paras. 172-182)

The Court has reached the conclusion (section V, in fine) that it has to apply the multilateral treaty reservation
in the United States declaration, the consequential exclusion of multilateral treaties being without prejudice
either to other treaties or other sources of law enumerated in Article 38 of the Statute. In order to determine the
law actually to be applied to the dispute, it has to ascertain the consequences of the exclusion of the
applicability of the multilateral treaties for the definition of the content of the customary international law which
remains applicable.

The Court, which has already commented briefly on this subject in the jurisdiction phase (I.C.J. Reports 1984,
pp. 424 and 425, para. 73), develops its initial remarks. It does not consider that it can be claimed, as the
United States does, that all the customary rules which may be invoked have a content exactly identical to that
of the rules contained in the treaties which cannot be applied by virtue of the United States reservation. Even if
a treaty norm and a customary norm relevant to the present dispute were to have exactly the same content,
this would not be a reason for the Court to take the view that the operation of the treaty process must
necessarily deprive the customary norm of its separate applicability. Consequently, the Court is in no way
bound to uphold customary rules only in so far as they differ from the treaty rules which it is prevented by the
United States reservation from applying.

In response to an argument of the United States, the Court considers that the divergence between the content
of the customary norms and that of the treaty law norms is not such that a judgment confined to the field of
customary international law would not be susceptible of compliance or execution by the parties.

X. The content of the applicable law (paras. 183 to 225)

1. Introduction: general observations (paras. 183-186)

The Court has next to consider what are the rules of customary law applicable to the present dispute. For this
purpose it has to consider whether a customary rule exists in the opinio juris of States,and satisfy itself that it is
confirmed by practice.

2. The prohibition of the use of force, and the right of self-defence (paras. 187 to 201)

The Court finds that both Parties take the view that the principles as to the use of force incorporated in the
United Nations Charter correspond, in essentials, to those found in customary international law. They therefore
accept a treaty-law obligation to refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the
territorial integrity or political independence of any State, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes
of the United Nations (Art. 2, para. 4, of the Charter). The Court has however to be satisfied that there exists in
customary law an opinio juris as to the binding character of such abstention. It considers that this opinio
juris may be deduced from, inter alia, the attitude of the Parties and of States towards certain General
Assembly resolutions, and particularly resolution 2625 (XXV) entitled "Declaration on Principles of International
Law concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation among States in Accordance with the Charter of the
United Nations". Consent to such resolutions is one of the forms of expression of an opinio juris with regard to
the principle of non-use of force, regarded as a principle of customary international law, independently of the
provisions, especially those of an institutional kind, to which it is subject on the treaty-law plane of the Charter.

The general rule prohibiting force established in customary law allows for certain exceptions. The exception of
the right of individual or collective self-defence is also, in the view of States, established in customary law, as is
apparent for example from the terms of Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, which refers to an "inherent
right", and from the declaration in resolution 2625 (XXV). The Parties, who consider the existence of this right
to be established as a matter of customary international law, agree in holding that whether the response to an
attack is lawful depends on the observance of the criteria of the necessity and the proportionality of the
measures taken in self-defence.

Whether self-defence be individual or collective, it can only be exercised in response to an "armed attack". In
the view of the Court, this is to be understood as meaning not merely action by regular armed forces across an
international border, but also the sending by a State of armed bands on to the territory of another State, if such
an operation, because of its scale and effects, would have been classified as an armed attack had it been
carried out by regular armed forces. The Court quotes the definition of aggression annexed to General
Assembly resolution 3314 (XXIX) as expressing customary law in this respect.

The Court does not believe that the concept of "armed attack" includes assistance to rebels in the form of the
provision of weapons or logistical or other support. Furthermore, the Court finds that in customary international
law, whether of a general kind or that particular to the inter-American legal system, there is no rule permitting
the exercise of collective self-defence in the absence of a request by the State which is a victim of the alleged
attack, this being additional to the requirement that the State in question should have declared itself to have
been attacked.

3. The principle of non-intervention (paras. 202 to 209)

The principle of non-intervention involves the right of every sovereign State to conduct its affairs without
outside interference. Expressions of anopinio juris of States regarding the existence of this principle are
numerous. The Court notes that this principle, stated in its own jurisprudence, has been reflected in numerous
declarations and resolutions adopted by international organizations and conferences in which the United
States and Nicaragua have participated. The text thereof testifies to the acceptance by the United States and
Nicaragua of a customary principle which has universal application. As to the content of the principle in
customary law, the Court defines the constitutive elements which appear relevant in this case: a prohibited
intervention must be one bearing on matters in which each State is permitted, by the principle of State
sovereignty, to decide freely (for example the choice of a political, economic, social and cultural system, and
formulation of foreign policy). Intervention is wrongful when it uses, in regard to such choices, methods of
coercion, particularly force, either in the direct form of military action or in the indirect form of support for
subversive activities in another State.

With regard to the practice of States, the Court notes that there have been in recent years a number of
instances of foreign intervention in one State for the benefit of forces opposed to the government of that State.
It concludes that the practice of States does not justify the view that any general right of intervention in support
of an opposition within another State exists in contemporary international law; and this is in fact not asserted
either by the United States or by Nicaragua.

4. Collective counter-measures in response to conduct not amounting to armed attack (paras. 210 and 211)

The Court then considers the question whether, if one State acts towards another in breach of the principle of
non-intervention, a third State may lawfully take action by way of counter-measures which would amount to an
intervention in the first State's internal affairs. This would be analogous to the right of self-defence in the case
of armed attack, but the act giving rise to the reaction would be less grave, not amounting to armed attack. In
the view of the Court, under international law in force today, States do not have a right of "collective" armed
response to acts which do not constitute an "armed attack".

5. State sovereignty (paras. 212 to 214)

Turning to the principle of respect for State sovereignty, the Court recalls that the concept of sovereignty, both
in treaty-law and in customary international law, extends to the internal waters and territorial sea of every State
and to the airspace above its territory. It notes that the laying of mines necessarily affects the sovereignty of
the coastal State, and that if the right of access to ports is hindered by the laying of mines by another State,
what is infringed is the freedom of communications and of maritime commerce.

6. Humanitarian law (paras. 215 to 220)

The Court observes that the laying of mines in the waters of another State without any warning or notification is
not only an unlawful act but also a breach of the principles of humanitarian law underlying the Hague
Convention No. VIII of 1907. This consideration leads the Court on to examination of the international
humanitarian law applicable to the dispute. Nicaragua has not expressly invoked the provisions of international
humanitarian law as such, but has complained of acts committed on its territory which would appear to be
breaches thereof. In its submissions it has accused the United States of having killed, wounded and kidnapped
citizens of Nicaragua. Since the evidence available is insufficient for the purpose of attributing to the United
States the acts committed by the contras, the Court rejects this submission.

The question however remains of the law applicable to the acts of the United States in relation to the activities
of the contrast Although Nicaragua has refrained from referring to the four Geneva Conventions of 12 August
1949, to which Nicaragua and the United States are parties, the Court considers that the rules stated in Article
3, which is common to the four Conventions, applying to armed conflicts of a non-international character,
should be applied. The United States is under an obligation to "respect" the Conventions and even to "ensure
respect" for them, and thus not to encourage persons or groups engaged in the conflict in Nicaragua to act in
violation of the provisions of Article 3. This obligation derives from the general principles of humanitarian law to
which the Conventions merely give specific expression.

7. The 1956 treaty (paras. 221 to 225)

In its Judgment of 26 November 1984, the Court concluded that it had jurisdiction to entertain claims
concerning the existence of a dispute between the United States and Nicaragua as to the interpretation or
application of a number of articles of the treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation signed at Managua
on 21 January 1956. It has to determine the meaning of the various relevant provisions, and in particular of
Article XXI, paragraphs I (c) and I (d), by which the parties reserved the power to derogate from the other
provisions.

XI. Application of the law to the facts (paras. 226 to 282)

Having set out the facts of the case and the rules of international law which appear to be in issue as a result of
those facts, the Court has now to appraise the facts in relation to the legal rules applicable, and determine
whether there are present any circumstances excluding the unlawfulness of particular acts.

1. The prohibition of the use of force and the right of self-defence (paras. 227 to 238)

Appraising the facts first in the light of the principle of the non-use of force, the Court considers that the laying
of mines in early 1984 and certain attacks on Nicaraguan ports, oil installations and naval bases, imputable to
the United States constitute infringements of this principle, unless justified by circumstances which exclude
their unlawfulness. It also considers that the United States has committed a prima facie violation of the
principle by arming and training the contras, unless this can be justified as an exercise of the right of self-
defence.

On the other hand, it does not consider that military manoeuvres held by the United States near the
Nicaraguan borders, or the supply of funds to the contras, amounts to a use of force.

The Court has to consider whether the acts which it regards as breaches of the principle may be justified by
the exercise of the right of collective self-defence, and has therefore to establish whether the circumstances
required are present. For this, it would first have to find that Nicaragua engaged in an armed attack against El
Salvador, Honduras or Costa Rica, since only such an attack could justify reliance on the right of self-defence.
As regards El Salvador, the Court considers that in customary international law the provision of arms to the
opposition in another State does not constitute an armed attack on that State. As regards Honduras and Costa
Rica, the Court states that, in the absence of sufficient information as to the transborder incursions into the
territory of those two States from Nicaragua, it is difficult to decide whether they amount, singly or collectively,
to an armed attack by Nicaragua. The Court finds that neither these incursions nor the alleged supply of arms
may be relied on as justifying the exercise of the right of collective self-defence.

Secondly, in order to determine whether the United States was justified in exercising self-defence, the Court
has to ascertain whether the circumstances required for the exercise of this right of collective self-defence
were present, and therefore considers whether the States in question believed that they were the victims of an
armed attack by Nicaragua, and requested the assistance of the United States in the exercise of collective self-
defence. The Court has seen no evidence that the conduct of those States was consistent with such a
situation.

Finally, appraising the United States activity in relation to the criteria of necessity and proportionality, the Court
cannot find that the activities in question were undertaken in the light of necessity, and finds that some of them
cannot be regarded as satisfying the criterion of proportionality.

Since the plea of collective self-defence advanced by the United States cannot be upheld, it follows that the
United States has violated the principle prohibiting recourse to the threat or use of force by the acts referred to
in the first paragraph of this section.
2. The principle of non-intervention (paras. 239 to 245)

The Court finds it clearly established that the United States intended, by its support of the contras, to coerce
Nicaragua in respect of matters in which each State is permitted to decide freely, and that the intention of
the contras themselves was to overthrow the present Government of Nicaragua. It considers that if one State,
with a view to the coercion of another State, supports and assists armed bands in that State whose purpose is
to overthrow its government, that amounts to an intervention in its internal affairs, whatever the political
objective of the State giving support. It therefore finds that the support given by the United States to the military
and paramilitary activities of the contras in Nicaragua, by financial support, training, supply of weapons,
intelligence and logistic support, constitutes a clear breach of the principle of non-intervention. Humanitarian
aid on the other hand cannot be regarded as unlawful intervention. With effect from 1 October 1984, the United
States Congress has restricted the use of funds to "humanitarian assistance" to the contrast The Court recalls
that if the provision of "humanitarian assistance" is to escape condemnation as an intervention in the internal
affairs of another State, it must be limited to the purposes hallowed in the practice of the Red Cross, and above
all be given without discrimination.

With regard to the form of indirect intervention which Nicaragua sees in the taking of certain action of an
economic nature against it by the United States, the Court is unable to regard such action in the present case
as a breach of the customary law principle of non-intervention.

3. Collective counter-measures in response to conduct not amounting to armed attack (paras. 246 to 249)

Having found that intervention in the internal affairs of another State does not produce an entitlement to take
collective counter-measures involving the use of force, the Court finds that the acts of which Nicaragua is
accused, even assuming them to have been established and imputable to that State, could not justify counter-
measures taken by a third State, the United States, and particularly could not justify intervention involving the
use of force.

4. State sovereignty (paras. 250 to 253)

The Court finds that the assistance to the contras, the direct attacks on Nicaraguan ports, oil installations, etc.,
the mining operations in Nicaraguan ports, and the acts of intervention involving the use of force referred to in
the Judgment, which are already a breach of the principle of non-use of force, are also an infringement of the
principle of respect for territorial sovereignty. This principle is also directly infringed by the unauthorized
overflight of Nicaraguan territory. These acts cannot be justified by the activities in El Salvador attributed to
Nicaragua; assuming that such activities did in fact occur, they do not bring into effect any right belonging to
the United States. The Court also concludes that, in the context of the present proceedings, the laying of mines
in or near Nicaraguan ports constitutes an infringement, to Nicaragua's detriment, of the freedom of
communications and of maritime commerce.
5. Humanitarian law (paras. 254 to 256)

The Court has found the United States responsible for the failure to give notice of the mining of Nicaraguan
ports.

It has also found that, under general principles of humanitarian law, the United States was bound to refrain
from encouragement of persons or groups engaged in the conflict in Nicaragua to commit violations of
common Article 3 of the four Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949. The manual on "Psychological
Operations in Guerrilla Warfare", for the publication and dissemination of which the United States is
responsible, advises certain acts which cannot but be regarded as contrary to that article.

6. Other grounds mentioned in justification of the acts of the United States (paras. 257 to 269)

The United States has linked its support to the contras with alleged breaches by the Government of Nicaragua
of certain solemn commitments to the Nicaraguan people, the United States and the OAS. The Court considers
whether there is anything in the conduct of Nicaragua which might legally warrant counter-measures by the
United States in response to the alleged violations. With reference to the "Plan to secure peace" put forward by
the Junta of the Government of National Reconstruction (12 July 1979), the Court is unable to find anything in
the documents and communications transmitting the plan from which it can be inferred that any legal
undertaking was intended to exist. The Court cannot contemplate the creation of a new rule opening up a right
of intervention by one State against another on the ground that the latter has opted for some particular
ideology or political system. Furthermore the Respondent has not advanced a legal argument based on an
alleged new principle of "ideological intervention".

With regard more specifically to alleged violations of human rights relied on by the United States, the Court
considers that the use of force by the United States could not be the appropriate method to monitor or ensure
respect for such rights, normally provided for in the applicable conventions. With regard to the alleged
militarization of Nicaragua, also referred to by the United States to justify its activities, the Court observes that
in international law there are no rules, other than such rules as may be accepted by the State concerned, by
treaty or otherwise, whereby the level of armaments of a sovereign State can be limited, and this principle is
valid for all States without exception.

7. The 1956 Treaty (paras. 270 to 282)

The Court turns to the claims of Nicaragua based on the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation of
1956, and the claim that the United States has deprived the Treaty of its object and purpose and emptied it of
real content. The Court cannot however entertain these claims unless the conduct complained of is not
"measures . . . necessary to protect the essential security interests" of the United States, since Article XXI of
the Treaty provides that the Treaty shall not preclude the application of such measures. With regard to the
question what activities of the United States might have been such as to deprive the Treaty of its object and
purpose, the Court makes a distinction. It is unable to regard all the acts complained of in that light, but
considers that there are certain activities which undermine the whole spirit of the agreement. These are the
mining of Nicaraguan ports, the direct attacks on ports, oil installations, etc., and the general trade embargo.

The Court also upholds the contention that the mining of the ports is in manifest contradiction with the freedom
of navigation and commerce guaranteed by Article XIX of the Treaty. It also concludes that the trade embargo
proclaimed on 1 May 1985 is contrary to that article.

The Court therefore finds that the United States is prima facie in breach of an obligation not to deprive the
1956 Treaty of its object and purpose(pacta sunt servanda), and has committed acts in contradiction with the
terms of the Treaty. The Court has however to consider whether the exception in Article XXI concerning
"measures . . . necessary to protect the essential security interests" of a Party may be invoked to justify the
acts complained of. After examining the available material, particularly the Executive Order of President
Reagan of 1 May 1985, the Court finds that the mining of Nicaraguan ports, and the direct attacks on ports and
oil installations, and the general trade embargo of 1 May 1985, cannot be justified as necessary to protect the
essential security interests of the United States.

XII. The claim for reparation (paras. 283 to 285)

The Court is requested to adjudge and declare that compensation is due to Nicaragua, the quantum thereof to
be fixed subsequently, and to award to Nicaragua the sum of 370.2 million US dollars as an interim award.
After satisfying itself that it has jurisdiction to order reparation, the Court considers appropriate the request of
Nicaragua for the nature and amount of the reparation to be determined in a subsequent phase of the
proceedings. It also considers that there is no provision in the Statute of the Court either specifically
empowering it or debarring it from making an interim award of the kind requested. In a cases in which one
Party is not appearing, the Court should refrain from any unnecessary act which might prove an obstacle to a
negotiated settlement. The Court therefore does not consider that it can accede at this stage to this request by
Nicaragua.

XIII. The provisional measures (paras. 286 to 289)

After recalling certain passages in its Order of 10 May 1984, the Court concludes that it is incumbent on each
Party not to direct its conduct solely by reference to what it believes to be its rights. Particularly is this so in a
situation of armed conflict where no reparation can efface the results of conduct which the Court may rule to
have been contrary to international law
XIV. Peaceful settlement of disputes; the Contadora process (paras. 290 to 291)

In the present case the Court has already taken note of the Contadora process, and of the fact that it had been
endorsed by the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly, as well as by Nicaragua and the
United States. It recalls to both Parties to the present case the need to co-operate with the Contadora efforts in
seeking a definitive and lasting peace in Central America, in accordance with the principle of customary
international law that prescribes the peaceful settlement of international disputes, also endorsed by Article 33
of the United Nations Charter.